Mohammed Suleiman Ahmed, 22, was indicted Sunday for attempted rape of a child under age 14, as well as for assault, aggravated assault causing injury, threatening violence, theft, and breaking and entering with criminal intent.

Ahmed entered a family home at 5 a.m. on March 3 and began stealing items. He then took a knife and entered the children’s room and attempted to rape an 8-year-old girl at knife point, and threatened the girl’s brother as well.

The children’s mother heard the girl’s cries over an intercom and came to her daughter’s assistance, but was stabbed. The attack ended when the father of the family heard his wife screaming, ran to help, and managed to overpower Ahmed.

The violent attack heightened tensions in southern Tel Aviv, where high migrant crime coupled with a large migrant population has sparked protests. Following two previous violent rapes by migrants of Israeli girls, a group of Israeli protesters smashed windows in the area.

Residents of the area have called on the government to assist migrants – away from Tel Aviv. They say illegal entrants should be housed in their own temporary cities near the border, not in struggling neighborhoods in Israel’s urban centers.

The attack on the young girl in early March was followed shortly afterward by the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl in the stairwell of her building and the rape of a 30-year-old African migrant woman.

The government has responded to the wave of violent crime in southern Tel Aviv by stationing a new police unit in the area.